Otherwise, nice imagery. Ike still had a decent amount of rain in it when it hit Canada on Sunday night, so I can imagine how wet you were three hours from the coast.

Thanks for the song!

Ever since I learned that you moved to College Station, I always meant to invite you to dinner here in Houston at the restaurant I work for. On my tab, of course. My way of thanking you for the years of entertaining stories. I got the impression that you were something of a foodie and would love the experience of dining in the middle of a bustling kitchen, especially the kitchen of one of the top restaurants in Houston. Or, if not at the kitchen table, then perhaps outside on the patio under the giant magnolia tree, with live New Orleans style jazz playing.

As I said, I meant to do this, meant to make it happen. Just as soon as I got a round tuit.

However, in the wee hours of the morning, Ike burned the restaurant down. Since there was very little else to report, the TV news cameras captured it all, and showed it over and over, all night long. To add insult to injury, Ike then flooded my home with just enough water to ruin everything and give it The Smell That Won’t Go Away.

I am sorry I kept putting off sending you the invitation. Now, I don’t think I will ever be able to. We always liked to say that our only real job at the restaurant was to create great memories. Now, all that is left are my own memories of the place.

I DO have two 3-liter bottles of some oh, so very nice wine that I was saving for a special occasion. Maybe you could come down and attend an impromptu wake and help me drink them? We could sit on the curb across the street from the burned wreckage and pass the (huge) bottles back and forth like winos.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5999179.html

To cancel football games, though… That’s just unholy.